Once Upon a Time: Second Star to the Right

Spoilers.
The final two episodes of the season are upon us, dearies, and the plot thickens in the little town of Storybrooke. In Fairy Tale Land past, after Bae falls through the portal, he arrives in London, England. Knowing no one nor anything of this world, he becomes a homeless child just trying to survive. One day, he breaks into a home and finds loaves of bread. Famished, he eats only to be discovered by a dog and a girl, Wendy. Wendy realizes he’s hungry and decides to let Bae stay in the home, in a crawl space, where she gives him food. However, Wendy’s parents find out of his presence, and unexpectedly, allow him to live with the Darlings.
One night, Wendy tells Bae a shadow comes and takes her to a place called Neverland, but Bae warns against this shadow person, as that’s magic and all magic comes with a price. Wendy is taken to Neverland and returned the next morning. She realizes Bae was right and she was allowed to return home because they need a boy, so the shadow is coming back for John or Michael this night. Bae refuses to allow that to happen and sets up traps for the shadow. But the shadow enters, nonetheless, and Bae decides to go to Neverland, to prevent the Darling family from being broken up as his family was. So Bae is whisked away to Neverland, but escapes the clutches of the shadow over the ocean, only to be picked up by a boat, captained by a man that goes by Hook!
In Storybrooke present, Regina is being tortured for information about Greg’s father. Regina tells him that his father is dead and buried where their campsite was. Emma suspects, again, that Tamara is in on it. The Charmings call on the favor Gold owes them in order to find Regina. Gold creates a spell which will allow Mary to see and feel what Regina is feeling. After tremendous amounts of pain, they call Emma and say there was a place that had sardines. Emma notes the canning factory at the dock and has the Charmings meet her and Neal there.
Once the four are together, they enter and split up. David and Mary find Regina, but Neal is able to escape. On another floor, Tamara sneaks up on Emma, gets the best of her, and shoots Neal. Emma recovers and is able to best Tamara, but not before she throws a magic bean, creating a portal that Neal and Emma fall into. She holds the ledge with one hand and Neal with the other. Neal tells her to raise Henry right and lets go so Emma can save herself, falling through the portal.
Tamara meets Greg at the old campsite where he has found his father’s remains. But Tamara took a black diamond from Regina. This item is a failsafe, which was created with the curse to destroy Storybrooke.
I don’t think any viewer really knew which direction they would go with the whole Neverland thing, and I’m pleased with their choice at the moment. They left the Darling children in London and never once mentioned the name Peter Pan. There was also no Tinkerbell and the shadow figure felt much more ominous. Now that young Bae is on the Jolly Roger, it’s debatable which way the story will go. Will Bae become the “Peter Pan” character, and free the children the shadow was taking him to. Or does he become a member of the Jolly Roger? That doesn’t seem likely. Whatever path they choose, it’s a darker Neverland than we’ve expected.
I can’t say I’m unhappy with the loss of Neal. Although I enjoyed his performance, I just didn’t see much development for the character heading forward. Plus the amount of characters already in the plot, less is probably a better idea. The portal was, supposedly, a way back to Fairy Tale Land, so it’s possible we may see him again in the future. But for the immediate plot line, this adds another conflict for Emma to deal with (the loss of her love) and now one for Henry to deal with as well.
Tamara and Greg… Much is still unclear with them. Who is the organization they are working for? And how does this organization know so much about Storybrooke, about magic, and specifically, about all the people there and minute details like Regina having a black diamond that can destroy Storybrooke? So much is still unclear and it almost feels like one of those plot elements where the writers want you to just go with it. Hopefully more of the information comes out in the last episode of the season, especially considering that most season finales leave the audience with some gasp moment, creating ravenous fans that can’t wait for the return of the show. We’ll see what all comes out next week, but I can guarantee everything won’t be spelled out for us. This will only add to our appetite and our desire to come back for Season Three.Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

One Comment

Jennifer EmperadorMay 9th, 2013 at 2:10 pm

The Best episode since “A Land Without Magic” I am a swanfire shipper!